https://www.operaamerica.org/get-involved/about-us/press-room/2023/opera-america-announces-19-participants-for-2023-leadership-intensive/
Read this article from the Steamboat Pilot & Today about Maria’s production of Barber of Seville at Opera Steamboat this August!
Maria is proud to be one of the inaugural recipients of the OPERA America grants for Women stage directors and conductors for Barbiere this summer at Opera Steamboat!
This new initiative allows Professional Company Members of Opera America to receive up to $10,000 to subsidize as much as 50 percent of the fee of a woman stage director or conductor who is contracted for the first time by the company. The grants are generously funded by the Marineau Family Foundation.
The grants aim to advance gender parity in the field by incentivizing opera companies to hire women for key artistic leadership roles. Women stage directors and conductors have been consistently underrepresented in opera productions, on average comprising fewer than 30 percent of the directors and fewer than 15 percent of the conductors in recent seasons.
DECAMERON OPERA COALITION’S TALES FROM A SAFE DISTANCE IS INDUCTED INTO THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
The award-winning new opera series will be remounted for world-wide streaming on the IDAGIO Global Concert Hall beginning February 21.
The most ambitious operatic commission to emerge from the global pandemic, the Decameron Opera Coalition’s Tales from a Safe Distance has been invited into the Library of Congress’ Performing Arts Covid-19 Response Collection. This new collection will include works by nationally and internationally renowned creators to document the new work that performing artists created during the pandemic. This recognition comes just as the DOC launches a new partnership with IDAGIO, the leading streaming app for classical music, where Tales from a Safe Distance will be remounted in the Global Concert Hall with “DOC Week”. The four episodes will be released throughout the week of February 21-27 for audiences to enjoy in 160 countries worldwide. One $15 ticket gives unlimited access to all four episodes through December 31.
Tales from a Safe Distance is a 21st century operatic adaptation of Boccaccio’s 14th-century Italian masterwork The Decameron: the tale of ten people quarantined together outside of Florence during the Black Plague. To pass the time, these friends tell each other stories. The 9 indie opera company members of the Decameron Opera Coalition reimagined these stories for our own pandemic times, each with a unique team of creators and artists. The idea originated with composer Peter Hilliard and librettist Matt Boresi, who together created the tenth wraparound story, “The Happy Hour”, featuring one character-storyteller from each of the other 9 tales, and a special guest star, the world renowned bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni. The result was an unprecedented operatic co-creation - a new opera, straight to film, that is an anthology of 10 world premieres written by 10 creative teams, and engaging a total of 86 artists from around the world.
Tales premiered in four episodes in October 2020 to rave reviews: called an “ingenious project” by the Wall Street Journal, and “an unbridled success - edgy, novel, richly detailed, musically intriguing” by the Houston Press. The series originally streamed through December 31, 2020 to an audience on 6 continents, in 17 countries, and 42 states, and has been recognized with several awards: 2020 "Freddie" Excellence in Opera Award from Fred Plotkin ~ WQXR New York Public Radio, OperaWire’s list of Industry-Defining Moments of the Year, and Winner of ‘Best Collaboration’ from 360° of Opera®.
The Library of Congress is building its Performing Arts Covid-19 Response Collection with “original scores, scripts, and choreography inspired by quarantine and the pandemic, the contextual documents surrounding the creation and planning of these works, and a brief oral history with creators.” In addition to scores, libretti, the production videos, and planning documents, the DOC’s submission of archival materials will also include the series of artist, creator, and producer conversations that were live-streamed by the Coalition through the fall of 2020. These insightful behind the scenes “Afterparty” and “Happy Hour” events are currently available on the DOC’s YouTube channel.
ABOUT THE DECAMERON OPERA COALITION (DOC)
The Decameron Opera Coalition is a collaboration of unparalleled scope that aims to keep opera vibrant, new work thriving, singers singing, and audiences enthralled. The coalition is comprised of nine independent opera companies from across the United States: Resonance Works [Pittsburgh], Lyric Opera of the North [Duluth], UrbanArias [Washington DC], Bare Opera [NYC], Opera in the Heights [Houston], Chicago Fringe Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, and An Opera Theatre [Minneapolis], along with composer and librettist Peter Hilliard and Matt Boresi (The Last American Hammer).
The coalition members commission teams of contemporary opera’s most vital and diverse creative voices to illuminate America’s indispensable indie opera scene, with a dedication to new sounds, unparalleled storytelling, and underrepresented voices. Independent opera companies are where new audiences are born, where seasoned opera appetites are fed, where new work is incubated, and where the craft is nurtured. The Decameron Opera Coalition is the future of opera.
WEBSITE: decameronoperacoalition.org
ABOUT IDAGIO
Chosen by Time as one of the best inventions of 2019, IDAGIO is the world’s leading streaming service for classical music. It offers video and audio streaming to music lovers in over 160 countries. Its acclaimed audio streaming service is uniquely tailored to the demands of classical music, featuring optimized meta-data and complemented by curation by music-lovers for music-lovers.
IDAGIO’s Global Concert Concert Hall, launched in 2020, offers access to live and pre-recorded performances from around the world. Artists and ensembles that have appeared in the Global Concert Hall include: Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Julia Bullock, Miloš Karadaglić, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Zubin Mehta, The King’s Singers, Vienna Philharmonic, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Philharmonia Orchestra and many more.
Named an “ingenious project” by the Wall Street Journal, the inaugural production of the Decameron Opera Coalition, “Tales from a Safe Distance” was acknowledged with several Best of 2020 awards and mentions:
#5 on OperaWire’s list of Industry-Defining Moments of the Year
Winner of a 2020 “Freddie” (Excellence in Opera Award) from Fred Plotkin & WQXR New York Public Radio
Winner of “Best Collaboration” from 360° of Opera
Maria is the lead producer of the DOC, which is a unique partnership between 9 indie opera companies from around the country, who co-created a new opera anthology straight to video inspired by Boccaccio’s Decameron. The DOC members include Maria’s company, Resonance Works (Pittsburgh, PA), UrbanArias (DC), Lyric Opera of the North (Duluth, MN), Opera in the Heights (Houston, TX), Bare Opera (NYC), Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Fargo-Moorhead Opera (ND), Chicago Fringe Opera, An Opera Theatre (Minneapolis, MN), and co-creators Peter Hilliard and Matt Boresi.
“an unbridled success – edgy, novel, richly detailed, musically intriguing”
- Houston Press“The Decameron project does genuinely new things with opera, and has lessons to teach the industry that may well outlast the grim pandemic which spawned it.” - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Decameron Opera Coalition – world premiere of ‘Tales from a Safe Distance’
Newly launched collaboration between US based opera companies, with the premiere of Tales from a Safe Distance to broadcast online in October 2020
Tickets are now on sale for the Decameron Opera Coalition’s multi-week, online streamed opera project – Tales from a Safe Distance
In the most ambitious operatic commission to emerge from the global pandemic, the newly formed Decameron Opera Coalition, comprised of nine US-based companies, will premiere Tales from a Safe Distance with a multi-week virtual release, in October 2020. This bold new work is inspired by an historic text, Boccaccio’s The Decameron. A masterwork of classical Italian literature, The Decameron is the tale of ten people who are quarantined together outside of Florence during the Black Plague in the 14th Century. Tales from a Safe Distance reimagines this story, to reflect the way people are connecting with each other through technology during this extraordinary time in the world’s history. Episodes will be released weekly, which featuring multiple stories from participating companies and unique creative teams.
The host of the project, providing a musical and dramatic prologue & epilogue for this unique and unforgettable new work, is the acclaimed Italian bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni.
About the Project:
The Decameron Opera Coalition aims to keep opera vibrant, new work thriving, singers singing, and audiences enthralled, even in these alarming times, through a new collaboration of unprecedented scope. Nine independent opera companies from across the United States: Resonance Works [Pittsburgh], Lyric Opera of the North [Duluth], UrbanArias [Washington DC], Bare Opera [NYC], Opera in the Heights [Houston], Chicago Fringe Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, and An Opera Theatre [Minneapolis], along with composer and librettist Peter Hilliard and Matt Boresi (The Last American Hammer) comprise the Coalition. In total, ten teams of contemporary opera’s most vital and diverse creative voices have been commissioned to illuminate America’s indispensable indie opera scene, with a dedication to new sounds, unparalleled storytelling, and underrepresented voices. Independent opera companies are where new audiences are born, where discerning opera appetites are fed, where new work is incubated, and where talent is nurtured.
The Decameron Opera Coalition is the future of opera
“We are daring to think big in a time of limitations, creating a collaboration that is uniquely born of this time, but which will help opera to thrive far beyond it.” ~ Maria Sensi Sellner, Artistic & General Director, Resonance Works Pittsburgh (Lead Producer, DOC)
“I am thrilled to be involved with the world premiere of “Tales from a Safe Distance” as its host. Through this project, the Decameron Opera Coalition members are supporting so many singers, creative teams, and administrators during this challenging time. It’s exactly what the art form needs to not only survive, but to thrive. We are all looking forward to sharing this new opera and connecting with audiences around the world.” ~ Luca Pisaroni
Tales from a Safe Distance – Weekly Release Schedule:
Episode 1:
Both Gladsome and Grievous – October 9, 2020
“The Happy Hour” (Introduction)
“Everything Comes to a Head” (Lyric Opera of the North)
“The Late Walk” (Bare Opera)
Episode 2:
Prompted by Appetite – October 16, 2020
“Dinner 4 3” (Fargo-Moorhead Opera)
“The Roost” (UrbanArias)
Episode 3:So Noble a Heart – October 23, 2020
“Orsa Ibernata” (Milwaukee Opera Theatre)
“Seven Spells” (Opera in the Heights)
“The Sky Where You Are” (An Opera Theatre)
Episode 4:The Bolts of Fortune – October 30, 2020
“Sourdough: Rise Up” (Resonance Works)
“Corsair” (Chicago Fringe Opera)
“The Happy Hour” (Finale)